Letters from a Small Bear
Chapter 4

We had a nice rest on the island of Utila off the coast of Guatemala. James recovered from his tooth infection and said goodbye to Tanya his sister and we were off on the next leg of the journey. The first few days back on the bike were tough. It was a struggle to get going again after such along break, but after a week, we were back in the groove.

We got to Nicaragua and as with El Salvador, James was told at the border crossing to take me to quarantine. The boarder guards think that I am a real bear (well thanks guys)!! And will not stamp my passport until I have been to see the vet.

Nicaragua was interesting, but it has everything that the other countries have only less quantity and quality. Granada, a colonial town on Lake Nicaragua, was good but not nearly as stunning as Antigua in Guatemala. We did enjoy it though, and we both loved the sunshine. On to Costa Rica, and that was where the next adventure started. We had set up camp and gone to bed, enjoying a good sleep after a long ride. When we got up in the morning, James discovered that someone had tried to steal his bicycle in the night. They had not quite managed it and had partly cut lock the lock, slashed the tyres and stolen the bicycle computer. Not good but it could have been a lot worse, these things are at least replaceable. That was not a good day as the next trail took us upwards for 2,500 feet in the cold, wind and rain. The worse thing about it however, was that the road came back down the same way, making the whole climb pointless. Some days James was not a happy chap!

There have been lots of funny moments and one of the funniest was when we crossed the border into Panama. The border guards loved me and spent 10 minutes chatting and playing with me. In order to get my passport stamped, James told them that I was owned by his (non-existent) 3 year old sister. The guards thought the passport was actually hers, and fell around laughing when they saw the picture of a little bear rather than a little girl! He was the butt of many jokes after that, but I did get the stamp on my passport.

Panama is exciting but the canal is truly amazing. On our way to visit the canal we saw a huge building of the far side of the water. It was only when we arrived that we realised that it was a ship waiting for passage through the lock. Unbelievable! It was here that I used up another of my nine lives, James almost dropped me into the canal. It is a good job he didn’t or I would be in the middle of the Pacific by now.

On now to South America at last, we flew to Venezuela and once airborne you can see both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans at the same time. I guess that is something that not many people (or bears for that matter) have seen.

The ride out of the airport and along the coast was mixed, with great scenery, incredibly steep hills, busy roads and torrential rain. After 4 days we made it to the first big town, where we relaxed for half a day. Venezuela makes great espresso coffee, so James had a lot of catching up to do.! The town was not great however, and people kept telling James to be careful; In the last 2 years, Venezuela has had an economic crisis, which as well as making it much cheaper to visit has also made it much more dangerous. We did not have any problems but James did meet some locals that had just been robbed at gunpoint. I stayed safely tucked up in the rucksack!

Tolly at Angel Falls

After two more days riding we made it to a good place on the banks of the Orinoco river. James spent a lot of time trying to find a womble to be a companion for me, but unfortunately had no luck. Wombles are very shy and mysterious creatures and are hard to spot, especially when someone’s size 9’s are crashing through the undergrowth!!

The next adventure was to get to Angel Falls, which is the highest waterfall in the world. South eastern Venezuela is covered with table-top mountains, all towering about 1.000m, rising straight out of the jungle. There are two ways to get there, by boat which takes a few days, or by plane, James chose the plane. It was so small that even I could have flown it, (with a little help) only four seats and James and I sat in the cockpit with the pilot. We started by flying to a tiny town in the middle of the jungle, so small that we never found out its name. The pilot was in a good mood, he liked little bears, so instead of flying straight there, he flew down to the small river that flows by the town and flew along it at about 5m high, truly exciting; We then flew over a huge waterfall, which looked like Niagara falls and then he did some aerobatics just above the ground, oooh! I was very glad when we landed, James said it was, ‘Awesome’

We travelled upriver by boat and then sailed right up to the waterfall that we had just flown over, if that was not enough, the guide steered the boat behind the waterfall. It was so loud and there was a tremendous wind caused by the water, it was a relief to get back out into the sunshine and sail upriver to our overnight camp. We camped that night in the most beautiful place, surrounded by rainforest, and overlooking the river and the 1.000m high walls of the plateau where Angel Falls comes from. It was covered in cloud sometimes, which made it all very mysterious. We had dinner and slept in hammocks, the night sounds of the jungle are very primitive, and I was glad to have James nearby.

Tolly on a boat trip

Next day we took the boat down a tiny river to the falls, I keep wondering how many times we can be amazed by the things that we see, everyone was struck dumb at the sight of the waterfall. It is so high that it is almost impossible to believe, the water turns to mist before it hits the bottom and you can feel the air from the waterfall from 600m away! It was cloudy when we arrived, but it cleared to give us two hours of wonderful sights in perfect sunshine. James and the others swam in the river surrounded by the falls, then with much regret climbed back on board the boat for the return trip to camp. The following day we headed back to the town and took the plane back to civilisation, everyone was a little subdued after the grandeur of the falls.

We headed south the next day to the city of Manaus in Brazil, taking a few days to ride across the remainder of Venezuela. It was a huge savannah peppered with table-top mountains and spectacular waterfalls; we got to the border without mishap and spent a few days relaxing. I was very popular at the Brazilian border with all of the people there, in fact about 100 miles later some people came up to us pointing and saying, ‘Tolly’, ah the price of fame!

The change once we were in Brazil was immediate; to start with James could no longer speak the language, in Venezuela he could manage with Portuguese, now it was back to mimes and gestures.

To get to Manaus from the border it is necessary to pass through an Indian reserve in the Amazon rainforest. In the 1980’s the Indians got so upset that foreigners (i.e. the Brazilians) had built a road through their back yard that they went and poison-darted them with blow-pipes. As a result the reserve was set up and drivers are not allowed to stop, get out of their vehicles, take photos, drive at night etc. Obviously more of a challenge on a bicycle. During the ride we went over a hill and saw a group of people walking down the road, James thought it was tourists that had got out of their car. When we got closer we found it was actually a group of real Amazonian Indians. The women were dressed as nature intended, and the men carried Indian tools and knives. The head man stopped James and did not sound happy when he talked to him, I think he did not want us to stay overnight in his reserve. As he had a machete and a big gun, James was not about to argue, deciding discretion was the better part of valour, we left at great speed!

It took a few days but we eventually got to Manaus, it is a big city (in fact the only city in the Amazon) with its own special charm. In the 1900’s it was one of the richest cities in the world due to the rubber boom, and with the money they built an ‘Opera House’ It is still standing and we visited it, strange to think that everything was made and painted in Europe then shipped up the Amazon to this very isolated place. The only way in or out of Manaus is by boat or aeroplane, in the spirit of adventure , we of course took the boat.

" ...are we going on another boat trip?"

There are no beds on these noisy, rickety old wooden boats – everyone sleeps in hammocks. No need to book, just turn up a couple of hours before depature, find a spare 10cm of space to hang your hammock, and that is your home for the next 4 days on the Amazon. To say that people are packed together is an understatement! After a while you get used to being kicked in the head 10 times a night by the people above you, below you, and on both sides!

Taking a boat down the Amazon is a great adventure. It is very big, but the river is beautiful, the sky and sunsets complete with storms on the horizon, are incredible and you even get ‘pink’ river dolphins swimming with the boat. There is not much to do apart from relax, read or sunbathe and drink beer on the boat roof, James has topped up his tan nicely, but I think my fur is getting lighter.!

From Manaus we took the boat to Belem, on the Atlantic coast, where we met some people in a hostel. They were travelling the next day up the Amazon to a festival being held on an island in the river called Parintins. It sounded great fun, so we decided to go with them. Another 4 days on the boat back the way we had come! It was well worth the trip. The festival was one of the most spectacular sights you could see, and we have seen a few. A stadium is built there – 20,000 people capacity and they use it only once a year, just for the festival. Each night for the 3 nights there are two teams that compete to put on the best show. The show consists of huge lifelike models, 50ft high, which they wheel on and connect to make a kind of stage. Then 300 or so dancers in incredible costumes dance and act whilst 300 drummers (also in costume) drum, the band sings, and then the models move! Amazing! At one point they even had a man with a jet pack fly over the crowd. After the show it is more partying until the sunrise. Then people start all over again the next day. Wow.

From Paintins, it was back to Manaus (more partying as the boat we were on was carrying supporters from the winning team) and then back to Belem. I spent most of the day relaxing , but got a mighty shock when James very nearly dropped me in the middle of the Amazon river whilst trying to take a photo. As my tummy is full of lead shot, I can’t swim very well, how many lives have I got left?

From Belem it was an exciting 8 day ride to a national park. The Brazillians we met on the way have to be some of the friendliest, interesting and crazy people anywhere. They really make you feel happy to be alive. They loved me a lot, never said James, was a bear so well received. James thinks that Christie Bears should open up a branch here!!

The national park is called Lencois, and was basically made up of 155,000 square kilometres of amazing white sand dunes. We went to the dunes one evening and saw the sunset, it was beautiful, especially as the Atlantic came right up to the sand. Here I had the biggest fright of my little life, James finally dropped me! Luckily it was on the sand but I rolled 70 mts downhill, no harm done but a bit of a job getting all of the sand out of my fur. James came down to rescue me and got quite tired walking back up the hill.

When we left the area it was hard work for James pushing his bike loaded with all of the packs, through the finest, softest sand imaginable for about 20 miles. It was a killer. We ended up sleeping in someone’s house in a tiny village, they just invited us in. There was no electricity, no running water, nothing. However, they were the friendliest and happiest of people and it was great to be there. It was like being adopted for the day!

Sea, Sun, Sand and ...Tolly!

From there it was to a tiny village on the North coast called, Jericoacoara, they love their big names here. It was rated as one of the top 10 beaches in the world, only the best for us! The best thing was that James was able to ride the bicycle 30 miles along the beach to get there – amazing scenery with little traditional sailing boats scattered along the coast. Once there we took a well deserved rest.

We have another week to go to get to the point where we turn the corner of Brazil, and are actually going in the direction of the finishing line. We are actually only 9 miles closer to the finish that we were in Caracas, Venezuela, all those months ago!

So until the next time, have a great end to the summer

Your friends James and Tolly